There are so many quirks over 162 games, and despite the best work of media relations staffs, beat writers, baseball-reference and more, we never quite get to them all. Shane Loux pointed out a new wrinkle after tonight’s victory.

That wrinkle? The victory itself. This was the first time Loux has pitched in a win this season, and that’s no knock on Loux. He has a 1.35 ERA in eight appearances, but the seven previous outings ended in a loss. Loux didn’t really contribute to those losses — he just happened to be the guy called in to mop up when the Giants trailed.

“Nobody knows my role more than I do,” he said, “And I’m OK with that.”

Still, it was nice to be part of a ‘W.’ And Loux was a big part, along with Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla. On a night when Matt Cain was far from perfect, the bullpen was.

Four innings, zero hits, zero walks, three strikeouts.
“I was pumped up by those guys,” Cain said. “They go 1-2-3 every inning and I wasn’t able to do that. It’s never good when the starter comes out after five innings.”

Loux entered in the sixth and had a smooth inning. Romo came on for a rare seventh-inning appearance and got the heart of the order to go down quietly. Then Affeldt, then Casilla. We so often lose sight of how good this bullpen was, but tonight was about as efficient as it gets against a very good Angels lineup.

“These guys have been doing it all year,” Loux said. “It’s nice to be a part of a victory. This is the first time I’ve pitched in a game we won, and it’s kind of nice to feel like I contributed.

“Especially for Matt.”

— Thanks to the ‘pen, Cain got a win for the eighth straight start. He’s the fifth starter in Giants history to do that and first since Rick Reuschel in 1989.

“It’s been great – the goal is to try and find a way to give us a chance to win,” Cain said. “I was probably maybe a little amped up (tonight). It was definitely a grind-it-out day.”

That it was, but Cain can grind with the best of them. He’s 9-2 now after getting wins in all shapes and sizes.

“What a gutty effort,” Bochy said. “He wasn’t quite on, which isn’t surprising with everything he put into his last game. He just found a way to get it done.”

Cain took a hard grounder off his left wrist in the fourth inning but found a way to get the force at home. Bochy said they think he’ll be fine and will check on him in the morning.

“He’s so tough,” Bochy said. “He kept his wits about him and made a great play at home.”

When Cain was talking to the media, a reporter noticed a dark mark on his left wrist. “Oh, no,” Cain said. “That’s a waffle burn.”

Cain was reaching for something in his kitchen last week when he touched up against the waffle maker. But it gave catcher Buster Posey quite a scare when he came out to check on Cain after the shot up the middle.

— Cain on the first start after perfection: “It was a relief. It was nice to get it out of the way.”

— Posey quietly put down a nice swipe tag on a play at the plate in the fourth inning. Posey worked on that play all spring, and he was nowhere near the plate – or danger – when making the play. It’s a good sign that deftly avoiding collisions is already ingrained in his muscle memory.

— Before the game Bochy shook his head in amazement at how many pitchers came out of the Mariners bullpen and hit 95-96 on the radar gun. He had to be shaking his head again in the eighth inning when Jordan Walden threw a 100 mph fastball past Cabrera to get strike three.

— Speaking of relievers, A TON of national writers were here to talk to Cain. I’m hoping they took a close look at what Romo did and has done.

— There’s a suite right next to the press box, and wouldn’t you know, Kobe Bryant sits down there in the second inning and starts chowing down on hot dogs and nachos. This gives me an opportunity to finally mention something that I noticed in spring training and have heard several Giants mention: Joaquin Arias kinda looks like Kobe Bryant.

— I understand the nature of message boards, Twitter, etc. Some people just need something to complain about. But this whole Brandon Belt thing, I mean…just enjoy the ride, people. Why does Belt’s hot streak have to be a referendum on Bochy, or Bam-Bam or Belt himself? He was struggling earlier this season, they made some adjustments, Belt worked hard, now he’s hot.

Sometimes there’s nothing nefarious going on.

“He’s really settling in nicely and throwing out good at-bats,” Bochy said. “He’s using the whole field. He’s made adjustments. Knowing that he’s in the lineup, I’m sure, has settled him down. But it took some adjustments on his part.”

Belt is 10 for his last 22. His average is up to .261 and his OBP is up to .379. Eventually he’ll force his way into the middle of the lineup, but the Giants like the way he gives them some depth after Pagan and Sandoval, and Belt likes the way he often comes to the plate with the proverbial ducks on the pond. All is good at the moment. Right?

145 Comments

Move Belt in front of Posey, Sandova and Pagan. THEN you would be “adding depth” and “stretching out” the lineup. That or Belt will walk 100 more times before the end of the season. Get the high OBP guys infront of the free swingers, not the other way around.

Slash there are no finite ways that your stat facts will translate over if belt bats in front of those guys you mentioned. Its not a video game. He’ll get different pitc sequences. Enjoy the team wins NOT individual accomplishments…

Have to admit that Loux looked pretty good in relief of Cain in the sixth inning. Did not really expect much from him, since the other relievers that have come up from Fresno have pretty much stunk up the place. Why did Bochy stick with Edlefsen so much when he was obviously out of his league? A sinker pitch like he had is no good if everybody finds holes in the infield to bang the ball through. Sorry Alex, but Bochy deserves some heat and criticism just for the crappy way that he kept bouncing Belt around last year. Belt may have busted out sooner with a little more patience from his manager.

ClutchUp says:
June 18th, 2012 at 10:50 pm
One cannot assume that belts recent 7 hole success is going to translate to the two hole. Leave him be. Most 6’5 guys don’t hit second. Theriot knows what is required professionally in the two hole imo.

Is Slash78 Belt’s agent? Or lover? Anything else would make his obsession very very strange.

=============

House Rules
Do

Show some respect for each other and the people you’re writing about.
Find a way to disagree without being disagreeable.
Get your facts straight. And remember the difference between fact and opinion.

Don’t

Resort to name calling.
Use profanity — even with letters missing, or the offending word hidden inside an acronym.
Engage in personal attacks.
Bait each other.
Relentlessly hammer home the same point over and over and over.

It’s too late in the night to be seeing someone calling others ludicrous while referencing batting average to judge a hitter when the objective of a hitter is not to make an out and OBP is the stat that exactly measures that objective.

It’s too late in the night to be seeing sac bunt being represented as something good for run production when there is already research out there showing that sac bunts are generally counterproductive to run production.

It’s too late in the night to be seeing saber misrepresented as something focused on individuals when saber is all about team team team. Take pitches. Get on base. Wear the pitcher down. Let the next batter try to do something with runners on base against a tired pitcher. Get on base. Get on base. Move the line. take more pitches. Get on base. Score score score. That’s all OBP. That’s all about team.

In other news, Bochy did a great job of managing the bullpen tonight. It’s refreshing to see a manager actually use his best weapon in the bullpen in the 7th inning to protect a lead because that’s when the heart of the lineup was batting.

I don’t think Belt struggled earlier this season in the sense that he wasn’t hitting despite given ample opportunity.

Belt struggled because he got jerked around, the only LHP he faced was Kershaw, he faced Halladay while Huff drew Blanton, he was set up to fail quite a bit of the time, he was in a platoon despite his career numbers indicating he hit LHP better, he got shat on by the organization who kicked him with comments about his reluctance to change his stance and his holes in his swing and all this other stuff.

Its not complaining when a person has very valid, very real concerns. Also, calling us all complainers solely to refute your irresponsible journalism by parroting the Giants so-called criticisms is a blanket statement to absolve yourself of any blame for feeding the organizational BS.

ClutchUp says: One cannot assume that belts recent 7 hole success is going to translate to the two hole. Leave him be. Most 6’5 guys don’t hit second. Theriot knows what is required professionally in the two hole imo.

So now there is suddenly a set of parameters that a #2 hitter must have, including weight and height? Call me old-fashioned, but I like the most important spot in the lineup to be where a good hitter hits.

Giants will prob go with a righty dominant lineup tomorrow. Nate or Christian will prob get a spot start in RF to spell Blanco who could recharge his batteries for one day. His average has dropped down to .265. But couple good games and that average and OBP will get back up there again. I love Blanco, nonetheless for his grind it out at bats and stellar defense. Posey will prob DH with Hector catching Zeets.

Great effort by our bullpen! I had to shut it down at the end of the 5th, and it was obvious Cainer was done for the night. The way the game was progressing I feared I would wake up to something like a 9-7 loss. Instead, we tack on another run and four of our bullpen guys combine for a perfect four innings. Sweet!

Love seeing Loux pitch in a win. This kid has done a good job for us. As Alex said, more national writers having eyes on Romo should be good for Sergio’s national credentials. We know how good he is. Affeldt does his job, and Casilla continues his stellar work–that’s how games are won.

As usual, Bochy’s handling of the pen was superb. I was sure he’d bring out Cain to start the sixth. Putting Loux in there took courage. Can you imagine the squealing if Loux had failed? “He took out a no-hit pitcher for a scrubino reliever!”

That took guts. So did using 4 relievers in front of Zito’s start. But none of them pitched long and three others are rested so they should be OK for today’s game.

— Blanco to lead off (that has worked)
— no Burriss at second base ( that has worked)
— more playing time for Belt so he can get a groove( that has worked)
— Elderfson to go away (that has worked)
— Melky batting third (remember Bochy had him bat second until Pablo got hurt. Gee I wonder when Melky took off?)
— Casillia as the closer not closer by committee.

Seems like a couple people on here know what they are talking about.

Things that still need to happen but it takes Bochy awhile to figure it out.

— Your second best OBP needs to move up in the line up.
— take Timmy out after 5 … Baby steps. It will pay off
— Sabean needs another second baseman and SS. And a starter just in case Zito and Timmy continue to fall. maybe Hacker and Penny can help.

JC, I like that lineup (with Blanco back on top of course) a couple-three time a week! Then if you look at the bench, wow, it’s scary bad, can’t tell me that we can’t find an upgrade for Christian and Burriss. By the trading deadline I see plenty of room for improvement. Go Giants.

That was a great win. I was nervous about the bullpen coming in the sixth. I was unsettled about missed opportunities. I decided to not watch 7-9 and instead popped in season 2 of Treme (you know, by the creator of The Wire).

It all turned out swell. Pitchers don’t like throwing Belt strikse and he doesn’t swing at many pitches out of the zone. And he’s barreling everything up. He’ll move up the order in time, maybe not right away, but in time.

What’s the mystery lineup tonight?

Righty heavy like JC proposes? A another unexpected Zito win would do wonders…

If the Giants acquired either Willingham or LaHair (both subpar defenders – and in Willingham’s case that is being very generous) where would they play? Someone would have to be dropped from the line-up, who would it be?

platoony tune sounds a bit loony to me. not his logic, which is sound, but the rage with which he expresses his opinions. c’mon dude, boch for the most part is aight, and the team is winning. plenty of reasons to be content.

that being said, there is no legitimate argument against putting belt in the 2 hole. sure it looks funny cuz he’s a tall, lean, 1b, while riot looks perfect as a short, scrappy 2b, but using judgment like that is gonna hold you back. anyways, the awesome thing is we’ve got solid guys 1-7, with crawford as the only weak link. if he really goes cold we can platoon him with arias.

I’m actually happy with the team as it stands. Things I’d like to see are Timmy getting some wins (duh). Pablo getting a tad bit of plate Awarness. I think Riot is coming around and like him in the clubhouse. Belt everyday 1st base. I do think Arias and Crawford should play the righty lefty thing. Outfield is one of the best in majors. Bullpen can use some help. I like this team and when Timmy turns it around I think we’ll be one of the best teams in the majors. What has me completely baffled is the dodgers-lady luck is shinning on them big time.

I know Cain is a pro horse, with great poise and all that, but I have to wonder if maybe some of the distractions (Letterman, etc.) left him slightly less prepared for this start. Gritty performance, nonetheless.

Agree using small samples to consider someone a good hitter is a little silly. Even the worst have hot streaks for whatever reason. Anyone remember Mike Benjamin’s tear?

Gutty performance by Cain, against a very good hitting team, after an emotional high that clearly had him out of his normal flow. Good thing because I was worried there might be a Letterman jinx 😉

Time to put the perfecto in the rearview just enough to continue building on it. Great catch again by Blanco behind Cain to rob Pujols, and nice to see Cain have some success against him. Dare I wish for Timmy to get going because wow, what an opportunity for a roll if he does.

And way to go Giants fans on another stadium takeover. Trumbo was visibly frustrated by it IMO, and Williams looked confused. Hope Williams is ok. Happy that he’s achieved some success.

Dirty Al: thanks for the flashback. I read your post and thought “Mike Benjamin had a “tear”? I remembered the six-hit day vs. the Cubs, but forgot that it was part of a three-day streak where he had 14 hits (June 1995). The prototypical small sample size, yes?

Yes, Bochy’s handling of the pen last nite was masterful, but the one thing I really loved was bringing in Romo, his 8th inning guy, to pitch the 7th, because he recognized that would be the crucial inning with their top RH hitters coming up. Not many managers do that. Ask the philly fans what they think of Manuel NEVER asking Papelbon to get more than 3 outs while the rest of the pen consistently blows games in the 8th.

I agree, Belt should hit higher in the lineup, but I also agree with Bochy’s patient approach. This is the 1st success Belt has had as a big leaguer. He’s batting in a low pressure spot in the lineup. Let him build his confidence, then move him up. It’s a long season. There’s plenty of time.

Strongly agree with Slash78. Belt would be a great fit for the 2 hole – seeing fastballs behind Blanco and in front of Melky. Even with his 3 hits last night, Theriot’s OBP is only .316. Belt’s fine OBP, even when he was struggling to start the year (I would place a great deal of the blame on Bochy’s yo-yoing him, putting intense pressure on him: Get two hits or you’re out!), is wasted with Arias and Crawford hitting behind him. I’d like to see him planted at 2, just left there and allowed time to fail as he adjusts. He’s a smart kid, a hard worker, give him time to find it in that spot – not only will his OBP lead to way more runs scored, but I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see his power numbers climb and climb.

I am glad to see Belt grabbing the bull by the horns during his stretch of playing time. 7 good games out of 13 does not solidify a guaranteed spot. He is still striking out 1 in every 7 at bats. Needs to get to 1 in 10 to qualify as a quality hitter. In the 13 games since Pill was sent down he is hitting 342 but has only 13 hits in the 13 games. Like I said, give him untill the All star game to see what he is going to give you. 260 with 3 or 4 homers is not good enough. He needs to be as good at JT’s numbers with the Giants and better than Travis. Taget 275 20+ dingers not 265 10-15 dingers. If he is bopping 25 to 30 dingers, then his 1 in 5 strikeouts in official plate appearances is reasonable.

Belt does not fit a 2 hole hitter. He strikes out way to much and my guess can not bunt when called for. Like I have stated, you want bat control, a contact hitter that will sacrifice and hit behind the runner when the runner is on second. It also does not hurt that Theriot is stealing bags as well.

Belt is just starting to learn how to make contact and get some hits. Forget about hitting to move the runner over.

#23 and #31, absolutely nailed it, thank you both. Alex, your Belt comment is merely a petulant retort by a journalist annoyed with the Belt camp.

You CANNOT ignore the fact that Belt has been raking, especially LHP, since Pill got sent down. Once that happened he hit 3 HR in a row, which I believe were all of LHP (at least 2 of 3 were). If that AAAA hacker wasn’t run out there by Bochy against LHP all year Belt probably would’ve broken out sooner so it’s not an issue to just chalk up to complainers and move in. It’s poor roster management and probably cost us a victory or two.

Not trying to be combative, just saying it’s irresponsible to just say, well Belt’s hitting now, all the Belt people should just be happy and quiet down. We are happy now, we did tell you so, and this is symptomatic of organizational philosophy which is why it was so infuriating. I mean Brett freaking Pill blocking our best prospect?! Better late than never though!

Also, too bad Edlefson wasn’t out there instead of Loux to throw some flat sinkers and hanging sliders.

As I mentioned yesterday, Bochy needs to trust him more and let him pickup some 6th and 7th innings like he was using Hensley so Clay doesn’t have to go back on the juice to keep his right arm from falling off….

I took some heat the other night for being skeptical of the accusations against Pablo. I wish there wasn’t, and I think it’s an absolute crying shame that there is, but nevertheless I think there’s reason to be skeptical.

* Is it me, or does the Angels’ stadium seem like a bandbox? I’ll admit not looking at the dimensions, but it reminded me of some softball fields I’ve seen. IT could have been the camera angles…or perhaps I’m too used to AT&T 😉

* Most of us have criticized Bochy for lineups and such, but he is…and has been…a maestro orchestrating the bullpen.

* It’s nice to see the Brandons growing up. They’ll both be fine.

* ESPN ran a story about Joey Votto’s Ruth-ian year with hits and walks. Yet Melky has 98 hits already…and Votto has a mere 84. Just say’in…

At LAX waiting for my flight to Miami. Spent yesterday taking Lefty Jr. to USC for a campus tour and meeting with admissions counselor–she’s been offered a special agreement to transfer there next year, so we went to see about it. It was SO fun to walk around the ol’ stomping grounds after all these years. I’d forgotten what a beautiful campus it is. Now headed to Miami for work.

We spent the night at my in-laws’ house about 20 min. from Angels’ Stadium, and I briefly flirted with the idea of trying to go to the game but watched it on TV. A couple of impressions: (1) The “Let’s Go Giants” chants were even LOUDER than in Seattle, and that’s saying something; (2) The Angels’ TV announcers are actually pretty good, and I never think anyone’s but ours are tolerable.

As for the game, I really enjoyed Loux’s effort and also Romo’s. The Angels’ announcers were going on and on about how great Romo has been “for years” and said his slider is “outstanding”–that’s probably why I liked them so much. I LOVE ROMO.

I’m enjoying BB9’s steady play and much higher quality ABs. I have my opinions about how things were handled earlier in the season–I’ve shared them here–but I’m going to do what Alex said and just relax and enjoy it now. (I also have opinions about it taking almost a month for Blanco to get in the lineup regularly.)

Finally, while driving to the airport this morning, I was listening to the morning show on the Angels’ station. They had a USA Today guy on and asked him what he thought of the Giants. He said the Giants have “a great team” and should be “right in there” for the NL West. He talked about their “much improved offense” and “balanced lineup” and even their “excellent defense” (!). He did, however, say that Lincecum either needs to start pitching better or be replaced in the rotation–they can’t sustain the record they have in his starts if they want to be in contention.

OK, out for now. Will check in later–maybe even in the air. Virgin America has free Wifi!

Bullpen series. Just about count on it with Zito going tonight vs C.J. Wilson, ERA leader in the Dink Hitter Rule league. If Barry makes it through five with no more than 3 runs scored it will be a moral victory. Should he be able to hang around for six with 3 or fewer on his plate, i’d say it’s cause for pride.

This could be a tough one, gang. With those four relievers each getting in an essentially perfect inning none of them should be dragging. Logical option for Bochy would be to run out Hensley for two innings. If Penny can get his act together at Fresno he could be what the Giants have been lacking all season ~ a true longman. Moto filled that role until his suspension. Not bad at it either.

Timmy’s travails are the primary cause behind the need for bullpen excellence. Though i have knocks on Bochy, he does waaay more often than not, demonstrate excellence conducting his pen. His use of Romo against the meat of the Angels order was, indeed, the performance of a bullpen maestro.

Here’s the dope, gang: Cain and Bumgarner are generally good for a strong seven, often eight and occasionally a CG. They simply happen to be two of the top ten hurlers in the league. Five, it could be argued. Not much of a fall to Vogelsong who usually can bulldog it for seven IP. Getting six outta Zito can be a stretch at times. Five is pretty sure this year. Again, the problem centers on Lincecum. Pacman suggests Timmy automatically goes after five. It may not be policy yet, but that seems to be the primary pattern.

Main problem, as i see it, with calling up Penny to be the long-man, is who goes down? At this point the entire pen is pitching quite well, so there is no obvious candidate. Any suggestions?

Let me put it this way: If you only knew how bad it can get. KIR=Keepin It Real and many others had to seek a higher power to somewhat control the rude/vitriol directed towards many, especially some here who have a multitude of handicaps. Lately “he” is attempting to type in code of “like” f e s a = which “he” proudly gleans from the urbab dictionary meaning which I wont put here. “Military references” to vietnamvet 68 / to rkstrs / to dnf to r e m o.

Channelclemente has a more world view of what “his” afflictions might be (the troll that is)

true avwh, and it’s mostly SLG that makes up the difference, so it would definitely seem that the bandbox at home helps. The point though was more that his road OPS is still > 1.0, which is pretty dang good. Melky is at .937. Votto also leads the league with an OPS+ (park adjusted) of 208. Sure, he plays in a hitter’s park…but he also happens to be an outstanding hitter.

My opinion is if a 2nd Giants Starter goes to the All-Star Game, I would say Vogelsong over MadBum. Madison will make many future All-Star Games…and Vogelsong always seemed to be the guy that pitched a stud performance for Giants when they needed it (after a couple losses, etc.).

It’s hard to believe that our 2X Cy Young winner is the #4/#5 guy on this staff right now. It says a lot about our staff (good) and also how much Timmy is struggling (bad). If/when Timmy gets his act together, this team becomes my pick for the NL in the WS.

— I understand the nature of message boards, Twitter, etc. Some people just need something to complain about. But this whole Brandon Belt thing, I mean…just enjoy the ride, people. Why does Belt’s hot streak have to be a referendum on Bochy, or Bam-Bam or Belt himself? He was struggling earlier this season, they made some adjustments, Belt worked hard, now he’s hot
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Alex, clearly you don’t understand the nature of message boards. If you did you wouldn’t say that…lol
😉

Milkbone Underwear says: June 19th, 2012 at 10:42 am 89..— I Alex, clearly you don’t understand the nature of message boards. If you did you wouldn’t say that…lol

MBU: I think Pavlovic does understand. He’s well known writing for the Mercury Sports especially basketball and THOSE articles produce/produced parental comments on other blog sites that were off the charts. No HS father or mother ever had a son who fouled another player … Along the way Pav’s, Carl Steward and Dan Brown ALWAYS pinch hit for Baggarly especically during the book tour excursion. Pavlovic saw all the former House Rules Violations and he, the Merc and the IT department enhanced Giants Extra to the point whereby what he said about Belt … nefararious … enjoy the ride people etc – was warranted (in my opinion).

There was over the top pro and con Belt posters from day one: So and So is blocking Belt === So and So is jerking Belt around === Belt is the next Will Clark === Trade Belt === Bat Belt 2nd.

All along JD4SF along with some of my 2010-2011-2012 Belt posts just said to let the ENTIRE process work out … not just his three yrs in MiLB, not just his great start off Billingsly in 2011 … etc etc.

ClutchUp says:
June 19th, 2012 at 11:05 am 95..Milkbone Underwear says: June 19th, 2012 at 10:42 am 89..— I Alex, clearly you don’t understand the nature of message boards. If you did you wouldn’t say that…lol

MBU: I think Pavlovic does understand. He’s well known writing for the Mercury Sports especially basketball and THOSE articles produce/produced parental comments on other blog sites that were off the charts. No HS father or mother ever had a son who fouled another player … Along the way Pav’s, Carl Steward and Dan Brown ALWAYS pinch hit for Baggarly especically during the book tour excursion. Pavlovic saw all the former House Rules Violations and he, the Merc and the IT department enhanced Giants Extra to the point whereby what he said about Belt … nefararious … enjoy the ride people etc – was warranted (in my opinion).

There was over the top pro and con Belt posters from day one: So and So is blocking Belt === So and So is jerking Belt around === Belt is the next Will Clark === Trade Belt === Bat Belt 2nd.

All along JD4SF along with some of my 2010-2011-2012 Belt posts just said to let the ENTIRE process work out … not just his three yrs in MiLB, not just his great start off Billingsly in 2011 … etc etc.

See what I posted at November 19th, 2011 at 12:30 pm @ #50
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KIR @90: My ‘favoring’ of Bumgarner over Vogelsong in this particular instance had all to do with probable IP rather than ERA or other similar metrics. Simply put, Madison is more of a horse than Ryan, but only by an inning or so.

Are we sure we want another bullpen arm. Loux is dominating in middle relief, mop up role for us. Filling the Mota role nicely. Kontos has been impressive in all of his appearances. Do we really have a need for Runzler right now? Runzler has great stuff but he has been erratic in his stints up here with the big league club. Just saying. Lets keep this bullpen as is. Casilla has been a lights out closer and less torturous than Brian Wilson. Romo is one of the best setup men in the game and having a dominant season, thus far. Lopez and Affeldt are effective as lefties out of pen. Hensley pitches in any situation for you and can go long as well. Don’t mess with what is working. What we need though is a big bat and presence off bench. I like Nate and Hector down there, but we need to upgrade over Burriss and/or Christian via trade. Think Jim Thome of Phillies, Jonny Gomes of A’s. Even Vladmir Guerrero is a free agent. And would be cheap to sign. Could be the righty outfield complement for Giants. I would love to have Vlady. Then we will have two guys who are bad ball hitters with Pablo haha.

If you want to compare pitcher’s, go to fangraphs and look up their FIP and WAR (WAR is calculated with FIP but figures in innings pitched).

Like last year, Bumgarner is ahead of Vogelsong (He was ahead of just about everybody in baseball save a few great arms). Vogelsong doesn’t score as high on these metrics because he has to bulldog his way through 6-7 innings with fewer strikeouts, some walks and hits. Guys like Cain and Bumgarner who aren’t walking anybody and getting K’s have great FIPs.

Giants will need bullpen help. Book it. Maybe not today, but come July and August, they will be in sore need of someone to get some big outs.

A power bat would be nice coming off the bench. Yeah, how long will Blanco ride this wave. Cooling off, but so is Pagan. The season is a grind. Christian and Schierholtz should get some opportunities. Maybe Nate’s come for another team.

God that was such an awful lineup last year. Tejada, Rowand, Whiteside, Huff, Burriss, Cabrerror! Night and day better from last year. What a difference a year makes. Giants cruising with the 4th best record in National League trying to stay pace with Dodgers. We lead the wild card by 2.5 games. And we are ahead of the 5th place and 2nd Wild Card team Mets by 2 games. So we are in good positioning. Just need to make a run at Dodgers. Especially with them coming into town against us next week. Big series for us, I must say.

On Virgin America flight, LAX–FLL. Free DirecTV programming, and–they have a SF Giants CHANNEL. A compilation of GMags, Inside the Clubhouse, etc. I just happily watched “The Journey,” a highlights program on the 2010 World Series run!

Haha, so much for getting any work done on this flight. Not to mention you can order anything you want from your touch screen!

2nd in OBP and 4th in OPS. That means as long as Belt hits 7th their are 5 hitters who make outs at a faster rate then Belt and don’t you want at least two of the three players with a higher OPS to drive him in when he gets on base?

He’s hitting because things have worked out and he’s not platooned with half the team.

.916 OPS at home. He’s killing LHP and even though he’s only lukewarm vs RHP batting and slugging wise, he’s got a .388 OBP against them. And he’s shown a lot of improvement against them this year. He’s currently outhitting Carlos Lee, Pujols, A-Gone, Freddy Freeman, Carlos Pena and Justin Morneau. Do we still need to trade for a vet so Bochy can comfortably move a 1B to cleanup?

Dinero: Banks the exonerated football player as well as Pablo. Anybody locked away for 5 years who is innocent is a travesty. Pablo’s is way younger mentally than his numerical years in my opinion thus his decision to be Up anywhere at that hour in the midst of rehab with ones every move followed via social media was a very POOR choice. I am sure the Giants actions were corrective in nature rather than punitive as there is so much player union – team verbiage that requires such. That said we all know he probably had to “wear it” = the stern talking to by whomever in the SF Organization. Younger players I know have a propensity for uttering “Yea, Yea I know, okay, my bad, etc” and that does not always mean that they GET IT.

However if the Sandusky character gets off, I will consider that disturbing 🙁

All Hail Lefty Juniors future at USC, the team well, I root for another college football program that went politically correct and dropped the word Indians 🙁 in favor of Cardinal w/ a tree as a mascot. WTH 🙁

I flew to LA on Southwest yesterday. That’s what I fly on MY dime. The university that’s bringing me to Miami booked me on Virgin America. Niiiiccce. I’m in economy if that makes you feel better, and I was a poor scholarship student at ‘SC!

@KIR – don’t know if I’d want anything to do with that 13/$263MM contract of Votto’s. Ignoring that though it’d be pretty hard to pass up.///

Overlooking his salary and contract length. I would trade both of them for Votto even with his adjsutments for hitting at Pac Bell he is still good for 300 and 20-25 jacks. He would give you 50 runs more a season. that would tanslate into 15 to 20 more wins or what Timmy gives you in a year and a half.

Did I mention the Arab princes here before? Because if not, that’s pretty funny. I taught English classes for international students (that’s how my way through grad school was paid), and I DID have a class with TWO Arab princes in it!

The one from the United Arab Emirates had a $100K Mercedes (and this was back in the 80s), and his car insurance for one year cost more than my $6K Ford Fiesta.

I wish they’d had valets, though. That would have helped me get to class on time some days…

Glad to see Belt is doing well. Most players do improve when they are given consistent playing time and AB’s. Interesting to note that he started doing better once Huff was injured and Pill sent down. The first base job was given to him on a silver platter…..no pressure equals better production. Unfortunately for him, Pill wasn’t Sabean’s “chosen one”. They need to do him a favor and trade him. The politics never end.

I knew what you were alluding to…and I took a slight turn and should have been clearer, so you knew that your specific point was taken and I was going in a different direction.

@Dinero/2holehitting

I must be stuck in my childhood, because I still look at trades in terms of talent and completely space out on the whole salary piece. This is why I mentioned the trade, because taking away the $$$$…Votto would help the Giants lineup, but does Timmy return to form? and/or Belt become the guy most experts envisioned? Based on those factors alone, it’s a tough call in my opinion.

Keepin It Real: Trust me Dusty Baker and Walt Jocketty Pres of BB Ops and GM (all in one) would covet 55 and 9 asap. The only one who would jump the line sooner (hypothetically) would be Ned Colletti 😉

Fuddy: I see your point, but sometimes we get pushed into the Bryan Stow arena and Jerry Sandusky arena. Anti_Lasorda has a little Anti and I work AROUND kids 24/7 thus I feel the adult world has let them down big time with a certain ilk of males and thus I don’t mind engaging here with certain banter. My former catholic HS – had – charges levelled against a former Jesuit after he died. Many of us rallied to support his name in death and we later found out he was in fact guilty.

I am doing much the same thing. I had graduation, the party and now college orientation all in two weeks all for my son. I am moving my son up to Chico. He is the one who attends most of the games with me, we are a quarter season ticket holder.

We were both there sitting in our seats when Cain performed his magic. As everyone in the place did I had someone take our picture sitting on the wall with the scoreboard in the background. Its now my computer desktop.

I think it will rank Number 1 in my all time games I attended because my son was there. I was there for some very good moments, Willies 3,000 hit, Dravecky’s comeback against the reds, the only game the Giants beat the Pirates at Candlestick, and the last game at Candlestick. Maybe because its fresh or maybe because this is sort of a change between my son and myself. But it ranks high.

I, too, was tempted to witness Matt Cain’s Perfecto follow-up game in person, as I am visiting my daughter in Santa Monica. A little too much trouble to get to Disneyland, when it was on the HiDef anyways. I may try to get there for Vogelsong’s game, I enjoyed seeing him and Posey get loose in their preparation for the Dodgers and Kershaw last month.

Both my kids graduated from USC, and both were on scholarship. They did well, considering the education system in Hawaii. I grew up in San Jose, then moved to Hawaii, and never spent time in Southern California until they went to college here. Did you start out with a meal plan at EVK as a freshman? Ever had a sandwich at the 2-9? Happy hour at El Barca? Late-night snacking at Chano’s? The walk across campus to the football games at the Coliseum is crazy, there’s some professional tailgaiters like I’ve never seen before. Or how about all the people cooking and selling hot dogs out of a makeshift shopping cart? Is that legal? You’ll never see that in Hawaii.

Anyways, love the fact that you are a knowledgeable Giants/ 9ers/ Warriors Fan and a Northern Californian with some Trojan allegiance.

Glad to see Belt is doing well. Most players do improve when they are given consistent playing time and AB’s. Interesting to note that he started doing better once Huff was injured and Pill sent down. The first base job was given to him on a silver platter…..no pressure equals better production. Unfortunately for him, Pill wasn’t Sabean’s “chosen one”. They need to do him a favor and trade him. The politics never end.

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OnTheFly – very obstute observations.

The BeltHaters who predicting Belt would be sent to Fresno on a bus, are now giving wide spead credit to Bochy for ‘not ruining Belt’s career.”

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